A Guide to Designing Effective Road Traffic Signs: Best Practices and Tips

Compelling road traffic signs are needed to ensure the safety of all commuters throughout Australia. These signs warn drivers of potentially hazardous situations, inform them of speed limits, and alert them to changes in road conditions.

Also, traffic signs help pedestrians and cyclists, ensuring their safety on the roads. Hence, it is important to improve these signs and stay alert to traffic barriers on the roads of Australia. Good signage will drastically reduce congestion, which is a major problem in many parts of Australia.

How to Make Signs for Improved Road Safety?

In many ways, the placards and road signs along the local streets and highways may elevate your driving experience. Even several innovative ideas like wireless digital traffic sign posts have come up to effortlessly transmit crucial traffic-related information to drivers. In this regard, here are some decent practices that will definitely help improve road traffic signs:

Selection of Clear and Concise Language

It is important to use texts that are clear and easy to understand. Thus, the designated officials should try to avoid using industrial or technical jargon.

Picking Contrasting Colours

This is a must when it comes to designing boards that communicate road safety instructions. Consider using colours that contrast with the background of the sign. For instance, a couple of evergreen combinations will be red and white or black and yellow. These colours will make the signs easier to read from a distance.

Sticking to Simple Shapes

To be on the safer end, go with simple shapes like circles, squares, and triangles when creating your sign. Deploying unorthodox shapes can misinterpret instructions, especially when noticed from a distance. To give an example, speed limit is usually marked on a circular white sign board, but if it is illustrated on a yellow-black, diamond-shaped board instead, people may misunderstand it to be a warning sign.

Utilising Visually Balanced Design

Paying attention to balancing your design should not be neglected. To get this right, ensure the board elements are evenly distributed and the most important indications are placed in the centre.

What are Some Common Barriers Indicated by Road Signages in Australia?

Here are some major blockades that Australian drivers are accustomed to:

Congestion

Sustained traffic congestions in major cities like Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and others occur due to excessive vehicles on the road. Also, at times inferior road design and untimely traffic management lead to congestion.

Weather

Extreme weather conditions, such as strong winds, floods, and incessant rain, reduce visibility in states like Queensland. Thus, conventional road indicators in such places are carefully designed to ensure seamless driving.

Construction

At times construction on roads reduces the number of lanes available. This again leads to frequent delays and congestion.

Smartly designed road signs are the need of the hour to tackle common traffic issues. As they keep on improving there will be increased chances of deploying driverless cars by 2026 as planned by the transport authorities.